II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5238 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to prohibit Amtrak from including 

mandatory arbitration clauses in contracts of carriage, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 25, 2024 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. CASEY, Mr. FETTERMAN, 

Ms. HIRONO, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. WARREN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to prohibit Amtrak 

from including mandatory arbitration clauses in contracts of carriage, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ending Passenger Rail 

5 Forced Arbitration Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. NO VALIDITY OR ENFORCEABILITY OF ARBITRA2 TION AGREEMENTS FOR CONSUMER AND 

3 CIVIL RIGHTS DISPUTES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 243 of title 49, United 

5 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘§ 24324. Prohibition on mandatory arbitration 

8 ‘‘(a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section are— 

9 ‘‘(1) to prohibit predispute arbitration agree10 ments that force arbitration of consumer and civil 

11 rights disputes between Amtrak and customers of 

12 Amtrak; and 

13 ‘‘(2) to prohibit agreements and practices that 

14 interfere with the right of customers to participate 

15 in a joint, class, or collective action related to con16 sumer and civil rights disputes between Amtrak and 

17 customers of Amtrak. 

18 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

19 ‘‘(1) AMTRAK.—The term ‘Amtrak’ means the 

20 National Railroad Passenger Corporation. 

21 ‘‘(2) CIVIL RIGHTS DISPUTE.—The term ‘civil 

22 rights dispute’ means a dispute— 

23 ‘‘(A) arising from an alleged violation of— 

24 ‘‘(i) the Constitution of the United 

25 States or the constitution of a State; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) any Federal, State, or local law 

2 that prohibits discrimination on the basis 

3 of— 

4 ‘‘(I) race, sex, age, gender iden5 tity, sexual orientation, disability, reli6 gion, or national origin; or 

7 ‘‘(II) any legally protected status 

8 in education, employment, credit, 

9 housing, public accommodations and 

10 facilities, voting, veterans and 

11 servicemembers, health care, or a pro12 gram funded or conducted by the 

13 Federal Government or a State gov14 ernment, including any law referred to 

15 or described in section 62(e) of the 

16 Internal Revenue Code of 1986, in17 cluding parts of such law not explic18 itly referenced in such section that re19 late to protecting individuals on any 

20 such basis; and 

21 ‘‘(B) in which at least 1 party alleging a 

22 violation described in subparagraph (A) consists 

23 of 1 or more customers (or their authorized 

24 representative), including 1 or more individuals 

25 seeking certification as a class under rule 23 of 


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1 the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or a com2 parable rule or provision of State law. 

3 ‘‘(3) CONSUMER DISPUTE.—The term ‘con4 sumer dispute’ means any dispute, including all 

5 claims related to personal injuries, between Amtrak 

6 and 1 or more customers who seek or acquire— 

7 ‘‘(A) services and accommodations pro8 vided by Amtrak; or 

9 ‘‘(B) carriage on Amtrak trains and equip10 ment. 

11 ‘‘(4) CUSTOMER.—The term ‘customer’ means 

12 any individual, except for an employee of Amtrak 

13 and without regard to whether the individual is a 

14 minor or paid for the transportation, who seeks or 

15 acquires— 

16 ‘‘(A) services and accommodations pro17 vided by Amtrak; or 

18 ‘‘(B) carriage on Amtrak trains and equip19 ment. 

20 ‘‘(5) PREDISPUTE ARBITRATION AGREEMENT.— 

21 The term ‘predispute arbitration agreement’ means 

22 an agreement to arbitrate a dispute that has not yet 

23 arisen at the time of the making of the agreement. 

24 ‘‘(6) PREDISPUTE JOINT-ACTION WAIVER.—The 

25 term ‘predispute joint-action waiver’ means an 


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1 agreement, whether or not part of a predispute arbi2 tration agreement, which would prohibit, or waive 

3 the right of, 1 of the parties to the agreement to 

4 participate in a joint, class, or collective action in a 

5 judicial, arbitral, administrative, or other forum, 

6 concerning a dispute that has not yet arisen at the 

7 time of the making of the agreement. 

8 ‘‘(7) RAIL PASSENGER CARRIER.—The term 

9 ‘rail passenger carrier’ means a rail carrier pro10 viding— 

11 ‘‘(A) intercity rail passenger transportation 

12 (as such term is defined in section 24102); or 

13 ‘‘(B) interstate or intrastate high-speed 

14 rail (as such term is defined in section 26105) 

15 transportation, excluding a tourist, historic, sce16 nic, or excursion rail carrier. 

17 ‘‘(c) IN GENERAL.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—All predispute arbitration 

19 agreements and predispute joint-action waivers shall 

20 be invalid and unenforceable with respect to a con21 sumer or civil rights dispute between Amtrak (in its 

22 capacity as a rail passenger carrier) and a customer 

23 of Amtrak. 

24 ‘‘(2) APPLICABILITY.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A determination of 

2 whether this section applies to a particular dis3 pute shall be made in accordance with Federal 

4 law. 

5 ‘‘(B) AUTHORITY OF COURT.—The appli6 cability of this section to an agreement to arbi7 trate and the validity and enforceability of an 

8 agreement to which this section applies shall be 

9 determined by a court, rather than by an arbi10 trator, regardless of whether— 

11 ‘‘(i) the party resisting arbitration 

12 challenges the arbitration agreement spe13 cifically or in conjunction with other terms 

14 of the contract containing such agreement; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(ii) the agreement purports to dele17 gate such determinations to an arbitrator. 

18 ‘‘(C) EXCLUSION.—Nothing in this section 

19 may be construed to apply to a predispute arbi20 tration agreement or joint-action waiver invoked 

21 in connection with any dispute subject to the 

22 Railway Labor Act (45 U.S.C. 151 et seq.).’’. 

23 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

24 subsection (a)— 


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1 (1) shall take effect on the date of the enact2 ment of this Act; and 

3 (2) shall apply with respect to any dispute or 

4 claim that arises or accrues on or after such date. 

5 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for chap6 ter 243 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by 

7 adding at the end the following: 

‘‘24324. Prohibition on mandatory arbitration.’’. 

Æ 


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